Short answer: single-image ads are the format most likely to still be running after six months. Across 2,073 active US ads in Meta’s Ad Library, single images made up 26% of the ads live for 180 days or more, against 10% of the ads less than 30 days old. Their median ad had been live 150 days, longer than video (108), flexible multi-creative ads (94) or catalog ads (73).
Share of each format, by how long the ad has been live
Each group adds up to 100%. Read across a row to see a format gain or lose ground as ads get older.
| Format | Under 30 days | 30 to 89 days | 90 to 179 days | 180 days or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single image | 10% | 14% | 22% | 26% |
| Video | 33% | 33% | 30% | 32% |
| Flexible (several creatives) | 36% | 34% | 35% | 26% |
| Catalog (product feed) | 17% | 17% | 11% | 12% |
| Carousel | 4% | 2% | 2% | 4% |
| Ads in the group | 313 | 616 | 561 | 583 |
Median days live, by format
Medians, in days. Carousels are a small group (64 ads), so treat that bar with care.
What stands out
- Single images last. 38% of single-image ads in the sample had run for 180 days or more, the highest of any format with a large sample. A good static ad is cheap to keep running and does not wear out the way a video hook does.
- Video holds steady. Video is about a third of ads in every age group (33% of the newest, 32% of the oldest). Advertisers launch a lot of video and keep a similar share of it running.
- Flexible ads are launched more than they are kept. Ads that rotate several creatives (Meta’s flexible and dynamic formats) are 36% of the newest ads and 26% of those past six months. They are often used as tests that get replaced.
- Catalog ads turn over fastest. Product-feed ads had the shortest median life (73 days), which fits how they are used: always-on, rebuilt as the catalog changes.
- One version beats many. Ads Meta shows as a single version had a median of 124 days live; ads grouped with several versions, 72. Long runners tend to be one creative left alone.
What to do with this
Do not read this as “stop making video”. Read it as: when you test, include strong static versions of your best idea, because statics are what advertisers keep. And when you research competitors, sort their ads by how long they have been running. An image ad that has been live for 200 days is telling you something a fresh video cannot. Our free Meta Ad Library search and Ad Spy both sort by run length, and why run length is the signal explains the logic.
How we collected the data
On October 26, 2026 we searched Meta’s public Ad Library for 80 product and service keywords, eight in each of ten categories (beauty, health and supplements, fashion, home, food and drink, consumer apps, business software, financial and home services, education, travel and local), with the country set to the United States and only active ads. We kept the first page of results Meta returned for each keyword: 2,360 ads. Ads that Meta groups as versions of the same ad were counted once, which left 2,073 ads from 1,179 advertisers. “Days live” is the number of days from the start date Meta shows to October 26, 2026.
What this data can and cannot say. Every ad here was still running on the day we looked, so the numbers describe which ads survive, not which ones sell. An advertiser usually keeps paying for an ad that works, which is why run length is the most useful public signal there is, but some long runners are simply forgotten. Meta decides which ads appear first for a keyword, so this is a large sample, not a census. Nothing here was extrapolated or modelled: every figure is a count or a median of the ads in the file.
Download the data (CSV): one row per ad with its category, format, days live, number of versions, copy length, first-line features, button and, for videos, length in seconds. It holds no advertiser names and no ad copy, so it can be shared freely; please cite “Hermoso Research, October 26, 2026”.
More from this dataset
The copy of long-running ads · Video ad length vs time live · All research
Frequently asked questions
Which ad format runs the longest on Facebook and Instagram?
In our sample of 2,073 active US ads, single images had the longest median time live (150 days) and made up 26% of ads live for 180 days or more, against 10% of ads under 30 days old.
Does a long-running ad mean it is profitable?
Not always, but it is the best public signal there is: advertisers usually stop paying for ads that do not work. Our data counts ads that were still running on the day we looked, so it measures survival, not sales.
Where does the data come from?
Meta's public Ad Library, searched on 2026-10-26 for 80 keywords across ten categories, US, active ads only. The CSV is free to download and cite.
Should I stop making video ads?
No. Video holds about a third of ads at every age. The finding is that strong static versions are what advertisers most often keep running, so include them in every test.
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